Vance Declines to Endorse Netanyahu, Breaking With Trump
The vice president said he is staying out of Israel’s Oct. 27 election a day after President Trump endorsed the prime minister.
Vice President JD Vance declined Monday to say whether he endorses Benjamin Netanyahu for reelection, breaking with President Donald Trump one day after the president backed the Israeli prime minister.
“I endorse American candidates, and that’s where I’m focused on is the midterms,” Vance said in an interview with journalist Mark Halperin aboard Air Force Two. “I’m not getting involved in Israeli elections.”
Pressed on the matter, Vance said he was neither for nor against the prime minister. “I’m not anti-endorsing him. I’m not pro-endorsing him. I’m not getting involved in Israeli elections,” he said.
The split came a day after Trump gave Netanyahu his “Complete and Total Endorsement” in a Truth Social post on Sunday. Trump called Netanyahu a “Great Warrior Prime Minister” and a partner in confronting Iran, and warned that without Netanyahu in office the United States might have to finish the fight against Tehran on its own.
Netanyahu thanked the president on X, writing: “Together we will complete the mission!”
The contrast is sharpest because Vance has weighed in on foreign elections before. He traveled to Budapest in April to endorse Hungary’s Viktor Orbán ahead of that country’s election, which Orbán lost.
Israel votes on Oct. 27 in its first national election since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack and the wars that followed. Polls project Netanyahu’s governing coalition could fall short of a parliamentary majority.
Also Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made an unannounced visit to Israel and met Netanyahu at Ovda Air Base in southern Israel, Axios reported, citing two sources. Reuters said it could not independently confirm the visit, and the Pentagon did not immediately comment.
